Smith, Dave : Stroke

Literature Annotations

Genre	Poem
Keywords	Communication, Disability, Hospitalization, Patient Experience, Stroke, Suffering
Summary	The patient lies in the hospital after having a stroke. The "word" is the patient's best friend, but suddenly it's become what "you can't say." "You lie flat / in the white yards of the clinic" unable to find the word. Like a dog, it "drags its chain over the emptied / bowl, barks," but the patient is unable to call it or command it. The stroke victim must simply wait and listen.
Commentary	An extended metaphor: the word as a friendly old dog who comes when called; the mute patient, no longer able to call his dog. The most terrifying aspect of a stroke--the loss of language, the inability to communicate. See also Jack Coulehan's Irene in this database.
Source	The Roundhouse Voices: Selected and New Poems
Publisher	Harper & Row
Edition	1985
Place Published	New York
Alternate Source	Articulations: The Body and Illness in Poetry
Alternate Publisher	Univ. of Iowa Press
Alternate Edition	1994
Alternate Editors	Jon Mukand
Place Published	Iowa City, Iowa
Annotated by	Coulehan, Jack
Date of Entry	06/14/96
Last Revised	12/09/96